Blue Cat Blues
Blue Cat Blues is a 1956 one reel animated Tom and Jerry cartoon, directed and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbara with music by Scott Bradley. Released on November 16, 1956 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, the cartoon was animated by Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Lewis Marshall and Kenneth Muse, with layouts by Richard Bickenbach and backgrounds by Robert Gentle. Plot A depressed Tom is sitting on the railroad tracks, bent on suicide. Watching from a bridge crossing the tracks from above, Jerry laments his old friend's state. He knows that as soon as he gets home, his own friends would ask Jerry why he didn't try and stop Tom. He would have to tell them that he believes that "it's better this way, and for the first time since he met her, he will be happy". Jerry relates the events leading up to Tom's depression: Tom and Jerry had been inseparable best friends, until a beautiful white female cat catches Tom's eye. The female feline initially reciprocates Tom's feelings, but things took a turn for the worse. Jerry mentioned that Tom had gotten a rival, the much wealthier Butch for the female cat's affections. Butch is suddenly smitten by her as well, rudely interrupting her date with Tom to make his move. The female cat shows herself to be an opportunist, which Jerry had suspected. Attracted by Butch's wealth, she immediately leaves Tom for him. Jerry reveals that after he had seen the female cat for who she is and realizing that she had made a fool out of Tom, he tried to stop him. He tried to warn Tom in vain to give up and let Butch have her, believing she is not worth his grief. Tom ignores Jerry's warning and pushes himself and his finances to the limit trying to win the female cat's attention with presents such as flowers, perfume, diamond rings, and a car, but the cat rejects all of his efforts, as Butch's presents are much bigger, more expensive, and much more outrageously extravagant (including a tanker truck full of perfume, a ring with a diamond so large and shiny that it cannot be looked at without eye protection, and getting into Butch's more luxurious coupe). Now broken-hearted, penniless, and deep in debt, Tom tries to drown his sorrows in milk, deaf to Jerry's pleas to stop. Tom is about to literally let himself go down the gutter until Jerry, at the last second, rescues him. Just when Tom's life could not get any worse, he sees that his ex-girlfriend is now Butch's wife; the pair drive past him in a car laden with luggage, with a "Just Married" sign on the back. Jerry breaks from the sad story to think about his own girlfriend, "Toots", happy that, unlike how Tom's ex-girlfriend was to him, she has been faithful to Jerry. Suddenly, Jerry's'' idyllic world is ''shattered when Toots rides by with another mouse, a "Just Married" sign on the back of their car. The now-dejected Jerry then joins Tom on the railroad tracks. They wait for an oncoming train which draws near. The sound of the whistle of the oncoming train turns louder as the cartoon comes to a close. Their fates are left unknown. Alternative Ending I suffered nightmares because of this episode, and although I don't suffer them now, this episode is in my top five least favourite cartoon episodes at number one. I mean, suicide. In a children's cartoon. From the old to the new, I don't believe any other cartoon has ever gone that low... right? Category:Animals